Kolkata airport duty-free shops remain shut as customs rejects new operator's licence

Stores of the new agency under wraps at the Calcutta airport's international section Sourced by the Telegraph

Flights to most international destinations are nearly full during the festival season, but passengers flying out of Calcutta continue to be denied access to duty-free shopping. Uncertainty surrounds the reopening of the stores after customs authorities rejected the licence application of the agency awarded the contract to operate them, airport sources said.

The new agency has set up stores in the international section of the terminal, but they remain closed, airport officials said.

According to airport sources, the agency's application for a special warehouse licence, submitted to customs authorities on August 21, 2026, was rejected a few days ago.

"The application was rejected because a mandatory examination of the antecedent records maintained with the department revealed adverse entries and past adjudicated customs violations against the agency," a source said.

The agency had responded to an earlier notice, claiming that the cases were old and had been settled. It said that the inspections and verifications related to incidents 17 years ago in another city and that the penalties had been paid in full, said the source. However, customs authorities rejected the application.

"The Airports Authority of India (AAI) had awarded the contract to the new agency, but it is now up to customs to grant permission. We hope the stores will become operational soon," an official of Calcutta airport said.

Metro had earlier reported that Calcutta airport has been without duty-free stores since July 1 and without a foreign exchange counter for the past year. International passengers currently have access only to regular retail outlets.

"I usually buy perfumes, chocolates and wines from duty-free stores as gifts. But during my last three trips, I could not buy anything here," said businessman Dharmendar Mulchandani, who recently travelled to New York and Dhaka.

"Paying in Indian currency is convenient, and Calcutta's duty-free stores used to be cheaper than those at many other airports," said Mulchandani, a Park Street resident. Liquor, chocolates, perfumes and souvenirs are among the popular purchases.

Staff at several international airlines operating from Calcutta airport have been receiving verbal complaints from passengers about the lack of duty-free facilities, sources said.

"Many passengers travelling from Calcutta to Europe and the US during the festival season are not taking their usual Gulf route this time. One of the reasons is the absence of duty-free facilities here," said Anil Punjabi, chairman of the eastern region of the Travel Agents Federation of India.

The disruption follows a gap in the handover of the duty-free operations. Flemingo Dutyfree Shop Private Limited, which won the contract in 2017 to operate stores in the international departure and arrival areas, saw its contract end on April 21, 2026.

The AAI initially extended Flemingo's contract until July 3 to bridge the transition, but declined to grant any further extension. The new agency was awarded the contract, but its stores cannot open without customs clearance.

Earlier this month, Union civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said the Centre would discuss the possibility of direct flights from Calcutta to London and other European cities with airlines operating in India, following a request from chief minister Suvendu Adhikari.

"But duty-free stores are among the important factors airlines consider when deciding whether to start flights from an airport," an official of an airline operating international services from the city said.